How will you ensure that foreign-owned HGVs pay to use Britain's roads?
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We have no current plans to introduce either a time-based user-charge scheme or widespread distance-based tolling scheme for trucks, but we are keeping the possibilities under review. We secured a good deal in new EU legislation governing cabotage, which was welcomed by the Freight Transport Association and the Road
Haulage Association. The new rules will limit cabotage, requiring the operator to prove compliance.
VOSA does a valuable job and we have no plans to decrease its budget. We are committed to tackling the big economic problems and dealing with the record budget deficit to get the economy moving again. Should the Conservatives form a government, we would have an emergency budget within 50 days of being elected. We will combine our approach to charging foreign-owned HGVs with a crackdown on safety standards for trucks on UK roads and raising the HGV speed limit on single-carriage A-roads from 40mph to 50mph to help hauliers operate in a more efficient, more cost-effective and greener way. We will ensure that overseas trucks that use UK roads contribute towards the cost of their maintenance by introducing a lorry road-user charge. We will structure the scheme so that it is broadly neutral for domestic haulage companies. We will take a proportionate and pragmatic approach to the implementation of EU legislation that affects the haulage industry and seeks to avoid 'gold-plating'.
represent have involvement in the industry. Road congestion for all vehicles comes up, but job security is the big concern at the moment."
Peter Carroll, the former boss of haulage firm Seymour Transport, who is running as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Maidstone and the Weald, says he is targeting voters with mailshots concerning the affect the rising cost of fuel duty is having on businesses and individuals alike.
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